Date: December 21st, 2011
Author: Jason Linkins
Topic: Iowa caucuses
Source: Huffington Post "Iowa Not A Bad Place To Stage Season's First Primary Contest, According To Math"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/21/iowa-2012-caucus-2011_n_1163702.html
So, if you look at the math, apparently, Iowa is economically most representative of all of the 50 states. This is measured by how close to the 0 mean each state falls. Iowa deviates only .02, while New Hampshire, the first state to hold a primary deviates a substantial .26 units from the mean. As the author of the study writes, "Its cross-section of economic forces, especially within the controlled context of the socio-political factors, best mirrors the general strengths and weaknesses at work in an American state economy." Clearly then, Iowa is the undisputed best place to hold the first caucus, right? Ehh not so fast. The study was done by the University of Iowa. Perhaps there was some bias then? So, the debate continues. Is Iowa really the most representative of all the 50 states? I doubt it. Let's think about this. If the the statistic I heard is true, Fundamentalist Christians make up a whopping 60% of Iowa's population. I'm pretty sure the U.S. as a whole is not 60% Fundamentalist. Furthermore, the U.S. as a whole is way more ethnically and politically diverse than Iowa. So, I propose the first primary is held in California-large, representative, diverse population. Why not?
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